Last Modified: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 11:00 p.m.

Nicholls guard Justin Payne (5) drives through the LSU defense during Wednesday's game in Baton Rouge.

Doug Keese

The Colonels tried to be aggressive early in the first half by taking the ball in the paint. But LSUís interior defense did an excellent job of swatting potential baskets away. The Tigers defense also created turnovers, leading to easy baskets as LSU went for a 68-41 win at the Maravich Assembly Center.

Nicholls coach J.P. Piper said that LSU was one of the taller teams his squad had faced thus far, but he also said that his team began to play timid making it easy for LSUís defenders. The Colonels (1-6 overall) made just 16-of-53 shots from the field and 4-of-14 from the free throw line while committing 19 turnovers.

"I thought that was some of the worse basketball I seen in a long time. It was an embarrassing performance by us," Piper said. "We lacked toughness on both ends of the floor. We canít make free throws, we canít make open shots. We allowed that to effect our defense and we just didnít look interested in playing at times. We talked about their length and they ability to challenge shots and we had to go in there a number of times.

"We knew they would block some of them, but our efforts were soft. It was a timid attempt and I think we made it easy for their shot blockers."

LSU (4-2) finished with nine blocked shots and outrebound the Colonels 39-28 while making 25-of-48 from the field. The block shots and rebounding gave the Tigers extra possessions that helped them overcome 21 turnovers.

"We got a little better on defense but were careless on offense. Now we have to be able to be efficient on both ends. Outside of our 21 turnovers, they were a team that didnít pressure us that much except on some ball screens," LSU coach John Brady said. "We made some poor decisions on that a little bit. I thought we improved defensively and rebound the ball a little bit better. We defended them pretty well and that is what we need to do. Defensively we were better but we need to take care of the ball. I would have liked to get out on the fast break a little bit more. For some reason we werenít able to get up the floor as quickly as I would have liked. Overall it was a 30-point game."

Turnovers and missed free throws cost the Colonels dearly in the first half and helped LSU take a 31-19 lead.

Nicholls threw the ball away on its opening three possessions of the first half, but 3-pointers by Ryan Bathie (11 points) and Michael Czepil (10 points) tied the game at 6 at the 16:12 mark.

Over the next 11 minutes, LSU began to assert itself on the offensive boards, leading to easy buckets and an 18-5 run. LSU shot 50 percent for the half, while the Colonels shot a dismal 1-of-7 from the free throw line and 31 percent from the field.

Trailing 24-11, the Colonels put together an 8-0 spurt to make it a 24-19 game as Bathie hit a 3-pointer and a jump shot and Czepil canned a 3 with 3:57 on the clock.

But, the Colonels would go cold from the floor in the final three minutes.

LSU took advantage of the Colonels shooting woes as Chris Johnson (16 points) hit a pair of free throws and a basket and Marcus Thornton (24 points) hit a 3 as buzzer sounded to end a 7-0 run and a 31-20 halftime lead.

LSU started the second half quickly outscoring Nicholls 22-12 for a 53-31 lead by the second media timeout with 11:58 to play. Johnson highlighted the run with three dunks as the 6-foot-11 center grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots on the night.

The Tigers took their biggest lead of the game after Thornton hit a 3-pointer with 3:06 left to play for a 66-37 advantage.

Colonelsí freshman Kellan Carter provided a spark defensively with four steals and he converted a turnover into Nicholls final bucket with 1:08 left to play.

LSUís Alex Farrer put the finishing touches on the win by making one free throw with 55 seconds left as neither team scored again in the Tigers 27-point victory.

"We missed a few shots and we did challenge the rim early. But we sort went outside and the shots stop falling," Czepil said. "We had two days of really good practice, it just didnít happen tonight."

<p>BATON ROUGE -- Nicholls State wanted to attack the rim against LSU Wednesday night, however the Tigers frontcourt players were up to the challenge.</p><p>The Colonels tried to be aggressive early in the first half by taking the ball in the paint. But LSU’s interior defense did an excellent job of swatting potential baskets away. The Tigers defense also created turnovers, leading to easy baskets as LSU went for a 68-41 win at the Maravich Assembly Center.</p><p>Nicholls coach J.P. Piper said that LSU was one of the taller teams his squad had faced thus far, but he also said that his team began to play timid making it easy for LSU’s defenders. The Colonels (1-6 overall) made just 16-of-53 shots from the field and 4-of-14 from the free throw line while committing 19 turnovers.</p><p>"I thought that was some of the worse basketball I seen in a long time. It was an embarrassing performance by us," Piper said. "We lacked toughness on both ends of the floor. We can’t make free throws, we can’t make open shots. We allowed that to effect our defense and we just didn’t look interested in playing at times. We talked about their length and they ability to challenge shots and we had to go in there a number of times.</p><p>"We knew they would block some of them, but our efforts were soft. It was a timid attempt and I think we made it easy for their shot blockers."</p><p>LSU (4-2) finished with nine blocked shots and outrebound the Colonels 39-28 while making 25-of-48 from the field. The block shots and rebounding gave the Tigers extra possessions that helped them overcome 21 turnovers.</p><p>"We got a little better on defense but were careless on offense. Now we have to be able to be efficient on both ends. Outside of our 21 turnovers, they were a team that didn’t pressure us that much except on some ball screens," LSU coach John Brady said. "We made some poor decisions on that a little bit. I thought we improved defensively and rebound the ball a little bit better. We defended them pretty well and that is what we need to do. Defensively we were better but we need to take care of the ball. I would have liked to get out on the fast break a little bit more. For some reason we weren’t able to get up the floor as quickly as I would have liked. Overall it was a 30-point game."</p><p>Turnovers and missed free throws cost the Colonels dearly in the first half and helped LSU take a 31-19 lead.</p><p>Nicholls threw the ball away on its opening three possessions of the first half, but 3-pointers by Ryan Bathie (11 points) and Michael Czepil (10 points) tied the game at 6 at the 16:12 mark.</p><p>Over the next 11 minutes, LSU began to assert itself on the offensive boards, leading to easy buckets and an 18-5 run. LSU shot 50 percent for the half, while the Colonels shot a dismal 1-of-7 from the free throw line and 31 percent from the field.</p><p>Trailing 24-11, the Colonels put together an 8-0 spurt to make it a 24-19 game as Bathie hit a 3-pointer and a jump shot and Czepil canned a 3 with 3:57 on the clock.</p><p>But, the Colonels would go cold from the floor in the final three minutes.</p><p>LSU took advantage of the Colonels shooting woes as Chris Johnson (16 points) hit a pair of free throws and a basket and Marcus Thornton (24 points) hit a 3 as buzzer sounded to end a 7-0 run and a 31-20 halftime lead.</p><p>LSU started the second half quickly outscoring Nicholls 22-12 for a 53-31 lead by the second media timeout with 11:58 to play. Johnson highlighted the run with three dunks as the 6-foot-11 center grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots on the night.</p><p>The Tigers took their biggest lead of the game after Thornton hit a 3-pointer with 3:06 left to play for a 66-37 advantage.</p><p>Colonels’ freshman Kellan Carter provided a spark defensively with four steals and he converted a turnover into Nicholls final bucket with 1:08 left to play.</p><p>LSU’s Alex Farrer put the finishing touches on the win by making one free throw with 55 seconds left as neither team scored again in the Tigers 27-point victory.</p><p>"We missed a few shots and we did challenge the rim early. But we sort went outside and the shots stop falling," Czepil said. "We had two days of really good practice, it just didn’t happen tonight."</p><p>LSU’s Bo Spencer came off the bench to score 11 points.</p>